That the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) swept the local councils polls on February 10th should not come as surprise to anyone who closely watched the political developments in the country after the demise of the Rajapaksa regime in 2015. The yahapalanaya regime of MS-RW was given the mandate by the people to, clean up corruption, speed up the process of reconciliation with the minorities, control the escalating cost of living, reduce national debt, restore rule of law, and bring before justice the corruptors in the former regime.None of these was accomplished but instead the situation worsened, and hence, the peoples’ disgust with the rulers. They demonstrated their anger peacefully at the polls by voting massively against the so-called yahapalanaya facade. Therefore, the landslide victory of SLPP was more a vote against the MS-RW mismarriage rather than an endorsement of MR led opposition.
During the election campaign, the Joint Opposition’s focus was to keep the voters concentrate entirely on the pitfalls of the government without having the need to tell the voters how the alternative government will tackle the economic and ethnic issues facing the country. Curiously, even the intelligentia was silent on this matter.The only redeeming feature about the results is that it is not the national polls but local.
There is no point now for the MS and RW factions to confess to the public that they have mismanaged the mandate given to them and will mend their ways during the little time left for them to rule.There is too much to clean up and needs nothing short of a wholesale dismissal of the entire team. This is certainly not going to happen, and with some window dressing, the mess will continue until a polling day announced in terms of the constitution. Politics is a strange game and all sorts of alignments and coalitions are possible. One can imagine that some parliamentarians now sitting with the government, and having noticed the wind’s direction, will be contemplating on their next move to jump ship.
Whichever the party that comes to power at the next general elections it will be difficult to find speedy solutions to the nation’s economic malaise within the existing neoliberal paradigm. The country’s debt to foreigners and the IMF’s conditionality would limit the space for any government to shift its economic priorities. This is the legacy of JR’s open economic policy. The civil war aggravated the economic difficulties. The previous MR regime had no choice but to borrow to finance a war, which it inherited. It relied heavily on the Indian and Chinese governments for funds and weapons, which they were willing to lend but with their own ulterior motive of using Sri Lanka as a pawn in the Indian Ocean geostrategic game. The current MS regime made little change in the strategy but made it worse by going to the IMF and surrendering to its conditionality to borrow even more.Will a new MR regime change this direction? Has the SLPP any blueprint for its solution to the economic issues? Without convincing answers to these questions changing regimes will only mean changing pillows to cure headache. It will not work.
In a tit-for-tat move, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP)-led UPFA threatened to oust Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and form its own Government, under the premiership of senior party man and current Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva yesterday, as the ruling coalition plunged deeper into crisis and disarray.
The new political moves were set in motion after UNP Cabinet ministers, who convened at the official residence of the President with Prime Minister Wickremesinghe on Tuesday (13 February) night, told President Maithripala Sirisena that they were willing to govern independently and show the party’s strength in Parliament.
The threat reportedly angered President Sirisena, who commanded SLFP Ministers to begin exploring options to show a majority in Parliament during discussions after the weekly Cabinet meeting, under the leadership of Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva. The President told SLFP ministers that he would give them two days to muster the numbers, highly placed sources told Daily FT.
Last evening, UPFA General Secretary Mahinda Amaraweera wrote to President Sirisena, urging him to “give the SLFP-led UPFA an opportunity to form a government.” In his letter, Amaraweera said the result of the Local Government polls last weekend was a mandate against the UNP’s economic mismanagement, and its failure to govern in keeping with the principles of good governance.
“Our party can no longer agree to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe continuing as the head of Government,” Amaraweera’s letter to the President said. “A new Government should be formed under the premiership of someone who can command the respect and the confidence of Parliament,” the letter added.
However, analysts said the UPFA faces an uphill task to muster the numbers and get a working majority of 113 in the House, given the current composition of Parliament. The SLFP currently has 41 members, with 55 other UPFA MPs sitting in opposition as the pro-Rajapaksa Joint Opposition (JO).
SLFP ministers strongly pushing for a new SLFP-UPFA-led Government are confident it can obtain the support of the JO, which will bring their numbers up to 96. But they would still be 17 members short of the simple majority needed to pass a motion of no confidence against Premier Wickremesinghe’s Government and trigger his dismissal, in accordance with provisions of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution.
However JO MP Dinesh Gunawardena, who leads the grouping in Parliament, told Daily FT last night that their position was clear, and that the faction was seeking an early General Election. “This Parliament has lost the people’s trust. To get our support, a new Government will have to move a resolution for dissolution of Parliament,” Gunawardena insisted. The JO had already made it clear that it would lend support to a caretaker Government, once it had committed to early elections, the JO MP told Daily FT.
According to the 19A, the only way to trigger early dissolution of Parliament, before it reaches the 4.5 year mark, is by way of a resolution in the House that must be supported by a two-thirds majority.
Meanwhile, Ceylon Workers’ Congress Leader Arumugam Thondaman and members of his party met President Sirisena last evening and pledged support for any political decisions made by the President going forward, the Presidential Media Division said in a statement. Thondaman, who recently allied with the Rajapaksa-backed Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna to wrest control of several local councils in the Nuwara Eliya District, is the sole representative of his party in Parliament.
With neither the TNA nor the JVP willing to lend support for the formation of a new Government, the UPFA will be forced to effect crossovers from the 106 UNP MPs in Parliament. Several Muslim parties and Minister Mano Ganesan’s Democratic People’s Front are also part of the 106 member UNFGG bloc. As the political turmoil and confusion persisted, speculation was rife last night that former Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa was involved in negotiations to shift some minority parties from the UNP’s 106 member bloc. Other sources denied this claim, saying the former senior minister at the helm of the SLPP was vehemently opposed to an alliance between the UPFA and the JO. No Muslim parties have shifted away from the UNP so far, Daily FT learns, but President Sirisena’s party is likely to garner the support of Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thero and ex-UNP Minister of Justice, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, who has been strongly critical of UNP policies lately.
Meanwhile, Hambantota District MP Namal Rajapaksa, who also backed the SLPP which swept the local government election last week, appeared to gloat publicly at the chaos within the ruling alliance. The son of the former President tweeted that the UNP and SLFP kept saying local council polls had no bearing on the central Government. “But the Government reaction alone, and the crisis situation it is in is evidence enough that the people’s anti-Government vote has created immense pressure from within,” Namal Rajapaksa said.
President-PM meet for late night talks amid hints of cabinet reshuffle
Even as both the UNP and SLFP engaged in major political grandstanding that cast serious doubt on the fate of the Unity Government, President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe met again for late night talks yesterday.
The two leaders discussed the future of the ruling coalition and basic agreement had been reached on the continuation of the unity Government and a cabinet reshuffle in the near future, highly placed sources told Daily FT.
No further details were immediately available, but the meeting between the two leaders had been cordial, the sources said, even as rumbles within the UNP-SLFP coalition grew and a split seemed imminent last evening. (DB)
Despite repeated calls for Sri Lankan military forces to stay out of the tourism industry, the Sri Lankan Army constructed and opened a tourist viewpoint in Point Pedro on Monday.
The viewpoint which marks the northernmost point of the island features a new army-built structure bearing a Sri Lankan flag and the slogan “unity in diversity is the strength of Sri Lanka”.
The Sri Lankan army which stands accused of committing war crimes and atrocities against Tamils, is almost entirely Sinhalese.
Residents of Point Pedro, a historic town on a strategically important stretch of the Vadamarachchi (region of Jaffna) coast, have reported concerns about increasing incidents of Sinhalisation in the area, in most part due to the heavy militarisation and navy occupation of the town and coast.
By Lasanthie Warnapura –February 14, 2018
The coalition forces led by the late most Rev Sobitha Thero did exactly what former President did at the recent election during the run up to the 2015 election. They lucidly marketed the negatives of the former strongman but mostly created hope amongst the electorate of better times. Three years down the road without the late Rev Sobitha, the coalition lost it’s sails and meandered along forgetting the aspirations they themselves created.
The Yahapalanaya government did have many credits to itself in the form of media freedom, rule of law and judicial independence. These however were not issues directly felt by the masses who were bombarded by rising food and other prices. “yahapalanaya kannada? ” asked a three wheel driver from me.
The approach of this government was of a technocratic nature which would at best be ideal for a developed nation. Mahinda Rajapaksa regime was full of flash and thunder and mega projects that brought in mega bucks for them which were used at this election. The rural electorate cannot distinguish between seven zero numbers and four. They witnessed the vanity projects and the over priced road network built during the MR period as a great leap to modernity. They do so at present too. They also believed somewhat that the Rajapaksa family and regime were corrupt. That was the reason behind Maithripala Sirisena becoming President. But that was in 2015. They do not think so now.
Ranil Wickremesinghe, could not have defeated Mahinda Rajapaksa at the last Presidential election. Or, that was the thinking at the time Maithripala became the common candidate. It was that same thought process when Gen. Sarath Fonseka, was nominated at an earlier election. Ranil Wickremesinghe, therefore cannot muster enough to oust a Sinhala Buddhist stalwart for Presidency after the defeat of the LTTE, by his own reasoning. He however has a firm grip on the Executive Committee of the UNP and cannot be hoicked. These are realities for the UNP to ponder. Let us reason why the electorate opted to give Mahinda Rajapaksa such a boost at the recent local government elections.
It was common knowledge that the man on the street was disillusioned within a single year of Yahapalanaya. Ranil was looked upon as upright when he refused to smuggle in defeated candidates through the back door to parliament when Sirisena did. Though there was a strong cry to bring in Rosy Senanayake he did not. Then he faltered. Faltered big time. President Sirisena got embroiled in micro management. He forgot that he was the Chief Executive. Bras being thrown on stage and the level of sugar in flavoured drinks became important.
The Yahapalanaya government ( Sirisena faction) then looked inward at corruption. The Bond Issue imploded. Ranil Wickremesinghe cannot do what Mahinda Rajapaksa can. He does not know how to cover up for rogues. That is Mahinda Rajapaksa’s forte. he need not have defended anyone. That was the mandate given to him.
He forgot two important factors. Right people, (read Doers) in the right places and distance (read Sack/Dismiss) the corrupt. Defending Arjuna Mahendran and continuing with Ravi Karunanayake were but some. There were many other UNP’ers within the Cabinet that the Sirisena appointed Ministers whispered in to the ears of the President and the media, of being corrupt. Not done due to altruistic reasons but for green eyes that UNP’ers had embraced the plum Ministries. Big Ministries-Big Bucks. Remember President Sirisena was enamoured by Ranil at the initial stages and would have done his bidding willy-nilly. But as Sri lankan’s are wont to do, the SLFP ministers made Sirisena guilty of not placing the SLFP first amongst equals.
But these were not the serious issues that the Yahapalanaya government failed to address. They simply allowed the opposition to grow on the freedoms given to them by Yahapalanaya. A cardinal mistake. One cannot govern with weak knees. No politician of any stature has been found guilty of corruption in Sri Lanka. That is by design. Politicians do not wish to do that because the same fate might befall them. The weak would also fear to do so as others may seek revenge on them by foisting a false charge. Party insiders feel that Ranil belongs to the latter category and he had a hand in getting the former Attorney General to go slow on framing charges.
The media was awash with the 1.4 billion dollar deposit in Namal’s name in a Dubai based bank. They botched it. They found out about Wimal Weerawansa’s and his wife’s forged birth certificate and Passports. Nothing has taken place yet. The infamous MIG aircraft purchase which figured in many a newspaper as a Government to Government deal is now shown as an agreement between an individual and our Government. The backend agreement between that individual and the Ukrainian Government is for $ 7 Million US less. Nothing has happened. Lasantha Wickramatunga murder case, Prageeth Ekneligoda disappearance, Ruggerite Thajudeen’s murder are all in limbo. The seven Tamil boys who were killed, is another case in point. The ACF workers….my gosh the list is endless.
Why the Yahapalanaya government could not make haste where it was needed is mysterious? No. It is not. Mahinda Rajapaksa carried flowers from temple to temple and numbed the buddhist clergy in full view of the media. He also espoused that the Sinhala/Buddhist brand was superior to other races merely as a marketing exercise to expand a block vote. Privately he has nothing but derision for both.
Against this Ranil loved to keep the Rajapaksa coterie out and about to split the SLFP vote between Maithripala and them. Maithripala in turn appeared to be favouring Gotabaya and keeping him out and about, perhaps to have him by his wing on a later date. Between the two they missed the woods from the trees in heeding the mandate they were given in 2005.
Added to this the duo looked inward to catch their own rogues. The Bondgate was the classic example with Ravi Karunanayake episode adding the salt and pepper. So, the Yahapalanaya government showed the 61% and the balance that, the rogues being prosecuted were “On Our Side” and not theirs. By implication when the Yahapalanaya government faced the local elections it was the Bond scam that the people remembered. True it was corruption at high level but it was also an own goal. The former rulers were made to feel Lilly white.
President Sirisena forgot that he was meant to work together with the two factions within the government and so fail did Ranil Wickremesinghe. Being a senior hand in the game he could not adjust to managing Sirisena nor the other renegade SLFP’ers. he failed similarly with Chandrika too. The people by and large were not impressed as stated early into this article. “Nothing is happening” was what one heard, well into the third year. Prices of commodities were higher during MR era but the Yahapalanaya government did not know. Astonishing.
70 years after independence, our identity is defined mostly along majoritarian lines, which can be traced back to the divisions created under British rule. These divisions have contributed to violence and war, in the years since 1948.
To this day, there are communities who feel that what is commonly projected and defined as the Sri Lankan identity does not reflect their reality, or themselves.
Looking at this, Groundviews produced a series of videos exploring identity and belonging in a country emerging from war, but not yet out of conflict.
Founder of the Vibhavi Academy of Fine Arts (VAFA) Dr Chandragupta Thenuwara stresses the importance of a better, more inclusive education system in order to move forward from the violence of the past, and nurture a future generation that is socially-conscious and appreciative of diversity.
Editor’s Note: To view the earlier videos in this series, click here. Click here for more content around Sri Lanka’s 70th Independence Day.
The collapsed building of Adam Exports. Pictures by Sarath Peiris
Thursday, February 15, 2018
A building collapsed in Grandpass yesterday evening killing seven workers and injuring another two. The building belonging to Adam Exports, was used for packaging of spices, located at Babapulle Mawatha, Grandpass.
Among the dead are four females and three males, while two persons, a male and female, are in hospital. Their condition is also said to be serious.
Rescue teams carrying an injured worker to an ambulance.
According to eyewitnesses, the incident had occurred around 3.00 pm and there were around 12 workers in the building at the time of the collapse. However, three of the workers had managed to escape unhurt, while the others were trapped within the building.
The building is said to be around 130 years old and some demolition work had been going on in the building behind it. According to Army rescuers, a wall from the building that was being demolished had fallen onto the spice packing building causing the roof and several walls of it to collapse, trapping the workers within.
“We were outside and we heard this big sound and we saw the whole building covered in dust. We ran towards it and there we saw our boss Thahir Gulamhusein on the ground and we first dragged him out. At the time he was alive. By his side was his trusted assistant and stores manager Sujee who had been here for over 20 years. But he was dead. Later even our boss had succumbed to his injuries,” said L.M. Premachandra and Prasanna Gunasekara who had been working in the tea section for over 20 years.
The Fire Brigade, Army and Air Force personnel were deployed in rescue efforts. Around 60 Army personnel were deployed for the rescue efforts.
In the post polls blogosphere, sundry pundits are having a field day. It is open mic session in media, both social and mainstream. To pontificate on what went wrong – or right, as the case may be for some – or prognosticate on the shape of things to come. So let me add to the Babel of voices albeit briefly; not to analyse (voter patterns are a tea leaf at the bottom of a cup business) or aggrandise (voter preferences a passing storm in tea cup), but share a personal perspective.
Be that as it may, the LG poll began as a ballot to elect the best local governors and became a referendum in the end on how the upper echelons of government were doing (or not) it all. If you went to the box with a cross in hand to etch against a party of street sweepers, you missed an opportunity to comment on the new brooms that had swept the state highways for three years with mixed results at best or a fail mark at worst. But building a nation is what happens almost by default while you’re beautifying your municipal borough. That a groundswell of resentment has reverberated through the polity is not necessarily a moratorium on the previous mandate. It is however an insight into the country’s mood at the moment – it is an amalgam of lost hope and faith as well as fresh expectations of an erstwhile regime, with a lime twist of Take That, You Sad Lot.
Marching on
If the local political context of post-war years is anything to go by, our electoral culture flies in the face of commonsense as much as conventional wisdom. There is little merit in crying over spilt milk… although some political figures of no mean prominence have expressed sentiments that are in spectrum faux-humble (“we’re ever so sorry” “it’s my fault entirely”) to maudlin-saccharine-machismo (“sob, you ungrateful SOBs, well we deserve the unappreciative voters we get, we’ll try to do better because we have it all sorted, this is not the end, wait and see what we’ll do next”). So the caravan marches on, and the three-ring circus of exec, legislature and judiciary carries on far more respectably than under previous dispensations. Dare we say that the usual suspects in respective party enclaves will remain in situ until kingdom come? And the horse trading and sabre rattling characteristic of coalition politics at every level under the truly mixed proportional representation system will keep all the customary sycophants on their toes and the traditional brown-nose-brigade on their knees.
It is only a smaller savvier electorate that remains bloody but unbowed beneath the bludgeoning of blind chance. And market-tested consumer-approved brands that keep popping up like bad pennies partly due to chinks in customer psyches and probably a smidgen of latent chauvinism in all of us. It is they, or us, who need to examine our consciences, while our political masters browbeat and bargain like political survival is nobody’s business.
The Acid Tests
(Take the piece of paper in both hands, pls. Under no circumstances attempt to write on both sides of the paper at the same time – as some midstream horse-changers tend to do. X marks the spot where your reputation lies buried.)
A. Essays
After a long age a nationwide poll was conducted in relative quiet as well as welcome safety and security. Say a little prayer of thanks for your newfound ability to exercise your rights without undue duress or harassment. Essay why you feel and think that this is now the case with reference to 8 Jan 2015. Full marks for everyone – except those idiot candidates and their moronic supporters who managed to ruin everyone’s weekend by being arraigned for disturbing the peace in some far flung quarters of isolated election violence.
B.Short Answers
Have you lost your faith in the sitting ducks? Are you willing to let those lame ducks off the hook? Or has the strongman cooked their goose once and for all? If the powers that be stop swanning about even now, will you vote for them again in 2020? If so, why? Is there anything to conclusively prove they’ve learned a lesson? Be honest (it’s a tough call, but one the electors make, not the ‘victors’).
Can you tell the difference between a mandate and a mindset or a mood? If not, why not? Feel free to admit that you have a short memory, or are feeling extraordinarily forgiving of past faux-pas to the tune of billions, to say nothing of the cost in blood. Think again about what you can remember. Is it worth it? Be candid. Mandates/possible future candidates’ viability are open to interpretation.
C.Multiple Choice Questions
1.Pick one. (Like your vote)
a.The by proxy strongman came first is in charge of local government
b.The old foxy statesman who came second is still the prime minister
c.The wolf in sheep’s in-third might go on for a second term as president
2.Voter turnout is:
a.Abysmal, given the depredations denizens face daily
b.Brilliant, because it shows that people realise the importance of their franchise
d.Doing one’s civic duty, even if nothing changes in the end
3.Can you spot the difference?
a.A question asked (‘Kawda Horaa’) and an answer given (‘Mamai Rajaa’)
b.Between false promises (‘I will step down’) and fake news or old hat (‘free Wi-Fi for all’)
c.Chauvinism that makes one lose face (there will be no enquiry), and ethno-nationalistic vim, vigour, and vitality that wins votes (congratulations, you hit the jackpot of being a winning brand! there is no such thing as bad publicity for a has been wannabe)
An islandwide recount is _____ (a canard/me in denial/the only sensible thing/just going through the motions to assuage my stakeholders that this is an outrage)
The UNP and the SLFP _____ (are done for good/must still continue to deliver on a previous mandate/can’t be in the mood for a second honeymoon/shall see it thru/thank their luck stars for the 4.5 year non-dissolution rule of 19A)
The JVP is ____ (losing/gaining) ground: 242,502 (2.84%) in 2011 Ã 693,875 (6.27%) in 2018
That landslide _____ (feels good/looks good/looks a little different when I closely scrutinise past percentages: 5.77 million (47.6%) in 2015, 4.95 million (47.7%) in 2018) … but that is maybe just the new math of the MSes: Maithree and Mangala
5.Quote Completion
“I take all blame. But _____ (Ranil/Ravi/UNP) helped me big time. Since issues of _____ (campaign finance/money laundering/corruption in the home ranks) gave me gravitas as an _____ (assiduous champion of anticorruption/asseverating mouthpiece of platitudes).”
6.True/False
1.American citizens can’t hold political office in republics where they once ruled the roost. (T/F)
2.Batten those hatches. Every able-bodied sailor to the deck. Because there is a Beast slouching towards Battaramulla to be born again. A bloodbath if MR becomes PM. (T/F)
3.Constitutions such as ours are an albatross, a blessing and a curse all rolled up into one, and forever a monument to the divisive after-laugh of that wily old fox JR. (T/F)
One more thing
I’m not sure what the next big thing is going to be. But at the time of writing only the electorate is sitting pretty having done the one thing assigned to it. With a case to be made for all politicos of every stripe having failed in some sense or another. Since a cross section of political leaders can share in the responsibility of the result it is incumbent on them to do whatever it takes to stay in power. Except they’re calling it win back the people’s favour, trust, love, etc. However, much sabres may be rattled by strongmen back in the saddle or horses traded by jaded statesmen captive to their jejune political ambitions, there’s still a matter of the mandate given in 2015. Therefore the landslide, be that as it may a barometer, is simply a cold front that may or may not pass or transmogrify into a full blown tornado in a brace of years. I’m not holding my breath about that eventuality. But let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Since, despite a nation’s mood today, its mindset of three years back still holds good for another brace of years.
A senior journalist, the writer is Editor-at-large of LMD. He can see the light side of the result, having resolved to champion at the poll those underdogs who bark at passing caravans.
author: COLOMBO TELEGRAPH-February 14, 2018
MTV/MBC Media Network, owned by controversial businessman Killy Rajamahendran, has come under severe pressure on social media for its “unethical and brazenly uncivilized” coverage of the current political crisis in Sri Lanka.
Sirasa, the flagship channel of the network, repeatedly aired breaking news, strongly pushing for the removal of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. This attack was carried out in the manner of a hate-campaign, violating all norms, ethics and professional standards adopted by ‘civilized’ media institutions across the world.
Colombo Telegraph learns that all this “drama” is initiated and directed by Rajamahendran who holds a grudge against Prime minister Wickremesinghe for refusing to grant national list MP slots for J. Sri Ranga and Susil Kindelpitiya, two of his close allies who failed to enter Parliament through election.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesighe claimed in public that Rajamahendran attempted to get national list slots for his ex-employees and challenged him to deny the allegation. So far, Rajamahendran, his channel or his allies have failed to respond to this allegation. Instead, they had resorted to a continuous and relentless hate-campaign against Wickremesinghe.
Facebook and Twitter, last night, was flooded with posts criticizing and condemning ‘Sirasa’ and its owner Rajamahendran’s agenda.
When a group of UNP MPs visited Temple Trees yesterday for a discussion with Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, Sirasa rushed a television crew to broadcast live what they suggested was the imminent fall of the Prime Minister.
The group of MPs walked out of the meeting, smiling, and pledged full support to the Prime Minister, causing great embarrassment to Sirasa. When one TV crew member asked an MP about the ‘fate’ of the Prime Minister, the latter quipped, “Ah eka Sirasen thorala apita kiyayi” (Sirasa will decide that and let us know).
Rajamahendran, who now appears to be a champion of democracy, was a man who manly bowed down to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and pandered to the previous government’s political agenda.
A leaked “CONFIDENTIAL” US diplomatic cable, dated March 22, 2007, updated the Secretary of State on Sri Lanka’s media suppression situation shows that President Mahinda Rajapaksa managed to influence the owner of the Majaraja Broadcasting Company. The Colombo Telegraph found the related leaked cable from the WikiLeaks database. The cable was written by the Ambassador Robert O. Blake.
Ambassador Blake wrote “Television stations have also been feeling the heat. This matters, because about 60% of the population gets its news for TV. Television journalists tell us, however, that the Majaraja Broadcasting Company, owned by a prominent Tamil, had been the only broadcaster covering press conferences critical of the government by former Foreign Minister Samaraweera, as well as stories on human rights violations and abductions. However, a senior executive of the Maharaja channel (protect) told us that President Rajapaksa had summoned the owner of the station to Temple Trees (equivalent to the White House). During a cordial chat, Rajapaksa was able to persuade Maharajah not to air any more programs on such sensitive topics.”
The email, in short, invited me to reflect on what I thought it meant that Sri Lanka was on the cusp of our 70th anniversary of Independence. The timing of the email felt like no coincidence but rather, fateful. Indeed, as a woman in Sri Lanka in 2018, there is much to reflect on. None of it is very good. But some of it is also remarkable. How far along are we on the road to our true independence as women, at this landmark juncture?
—
In 2015, when many of us campaigned publicly within communities, and privately within families for regime change, we did it not because we believed that the candidate we were campaigning for reflected our values perfectly. Rather, we did so because we believed that the prevailing leadership at the time needed to be defeated. For many of us, it was a practical, strategic move.
Nonetheless, I think many of us did believe that some progressiveness could be expected from the incoming government. The subsequent years have showed that our new leadership – while not overtly authoritarian – was at best weak on all its promises of progressive state action and reform.
We may have never felt as uniquely trapped as we do now – the promise of progress, tempered constantly by disappointment. The apparent opportunities to engage with democratic processes and to be heard, contradicted endlessly by being shut out of processes while decisions which affect us are made at the executive level, unilaterally, revoked or reinstated.
For women, this government has been a veritable disaster.
The President is the perfect symbol of the patriarchal state machinery, the Patriarch himself – feudal, moralistic, misogynistic, overbearing, overprotective. It could be argued that the level of control exerted over women at the level of family, community, society and finally the State could not be more visible than at the present moment in Sri Lanka.
In 2014, when Sirisena was still a minister, journalists documented him saying “May all women be reborn as men” (at a SLFP women’s federation meeting, no less). It was already clear that these were possibly his true convictions.
But he isn’t the first of our leaders to display such troubling signs of deeply entrenched misogyny – and he will not be the last. This government’s attitudes to women’s rights are only shocking because it’s 2018 now and because we expected something else – but they are hardly the first to deliver next to nothing for women, while benefiting and profiting from the immense contributions women make in every possible sphere of private, public, social, economic and political life.
—
Across Sri Lanka, women continue to be engaged in various struggles, many of them unfortunately not fundamentally different from the struggles that our foremothers were engaged in 70 years ago and in the decades after.
The social welfare policies which were won through collaborative efforts across movements and because of the visionary leadership of many women in post-Independence Sri Lanka are at risk today, as the government accelerates down a path towards neoliberal economic policies. Its vision for a future ‘developed’ nation-state worryingly does not seem to include many of us. The lived realities of historically marginalised groups and persons, sexual minorities and non-conforming persons, the poor, and so on, are absent in this narrative.
Women are fighting to repeal or reform discriminatory laws which do not grant us autonomy as full citizens and human beings, but instead force us to submit to a state which continues to see us as inferior and unfit to make decisions about our own bodies, health, work and lifestyles. Muslim women’s ongoing struggle to reform the Muslim Marriages and Divorce Act (MMDA) is an excellent example of this; so indeed is the fight to amend or repeal the law which criminalizes abortion, the fight to repeal the Vagrants’ Ordinance which is often used to discriminate sex-workers, and the fight to decriminalize same-sex relations between consenting adults. The ‘alcohol ban’ was another example of the ‘Patriarch’ stepping in to decide what is best for women.
On the other hand, women are also fighting to impose stronger judicial sanctions for violence and discrimination against women — the fight to criminalise marital rape is one example. Our work in enabling access to justice for victims of rape, sexual harassment and domestic and family violence continues — much of the time with frustratingly limited gains and only on the extremely rare occasion at which justice is given to women who seek it. Justice systems themselves continue to be structurally sexist, where the odds are often stacked against women survivors. Our engagement with information and communication technologies — while granting us immense advantages as tools of resistance and expression — have also opened up considerable risks and dangers which affect us uniquely and for which, as with other forms of violence against women, we really have no redress.
The historic, more-than two decade struggle for an increase in women’s political representationat all levels of government, met continuously with the ugliest, most base forms of sexism, was fruitful when finally, last year, a 25% women’s quota was mandated at the local government level. However, the same remains to be achieved at the levels of provincial governance and Parliament.
Women, particularly in the North and East, are strongly and bravely resisting continued militarisation. They are pushing ahead in their search for truth, justice and reconciliation, and fighting to regain ownership of their land against encroaching military presence, against all odds and at great risk.
Women’s lives essentially happen ‘against all odds’ all the time. Sri Lankan women, at varying levels and across class, caste, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity, commit acts of bravery every day, both grand and mundane. We continue to forge ahead, assert autonomy and indeed, independence. We continue to survive, thrive and negotiate power in structures which were designed to keep us out.
Sri Lanka approaches its 70th year of ‘Independence’ in an interesting global moment. As movements of resistance – of women, of indigenous peoples, of religious and ethnic minorities, of communities of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities, of the historically invisiblised – become more visible and grow louder every day, systems are swinging towards becoming more cruel, more conservative, more controlling. As they do, our movements for resistance grow ever louder – and so the cycle continues.
While we are living in a moment of frightening, conservative authoritarianism within and outside, we are also living in a moment of bright, shining, creative resistance. And women are at the helm, as they have always been, of all these fights for equality and social justice, the world over. It’s no different in Sri Lanka. At every turn, when women are treated with contempt or discriminated against, women rise up — together — and find ways of agitating and disrupting within all kinds of restrictive systems.
There are many examples that bear testament to this: the immense bravery of Muslim women activists who put themselves on the frontlines of a battle against state, clerics and some members of the community, whether they are talking about the need to reform the MMDA or about the prevalence of FGM (female genital mutilation) in Sri Lanka; the bold and strategic position taken by the several dozen women who challenged the alcohol ban in the Supreme Courts through fundamental rights petitions; the persistence of women who are at the forefront of the struggle for land ownership in former war-affected parts of the country, protesting for hundreds of days on end, despite military control; or the women candidates who are contesting at the imminent local government election, who — despite how notoriously toxic Sri Lankan political culture has always been for women — have stepped up anyway, and now, predictably, are under attack.
So it is both a sobering and moving thing, to reflect on how much and how little we seem to have been able to carve out for ourselves, against all odds. How many of our struggles have borne such little fruit, how many of our struggles seem to have shaken the deepest structures to the core; how many of our basic rights are still a fight away and how our autonomy is, if ever, entirely self-given, never granted nor protected. We demand our autonomy and in doing so assert our autonomy at the same time; we find ways to articulate what we are owed by the structures while designing our destinies outside of those structures entirely. We are always fighting to have the rights which are ours ‘given’ to us while not waiting around to be ‘given’ anything.
I am always moved by the every-day bravery of women, both grand and mundane. To all of them I remain indebted for their courage, which always rises up, against all odds. This is the path to our independence – and we are on it.
Editor’s Note: Click here for more content around Sri Lanka’s 70th Independence Day. Click here for our video series.
First Capital Research (FCR) believes inflation rate to moderate, foreign reserve position to be maintained above US$ 7 billion levels.
FCR also expects the improvement in credit growth and likely increase in GDP growth in 2018E.
Consideration of above favourable macroeconomic environment, FC research says current monetary policy is appropriate and no change is required.
GDP growth for 3Q 2017 was lower than expected, grew by 3.3% YoY in the with overall agricultural activities reporting a negative growth mainly due to the unfavorable weather conditions (severe drought as well as heavy rainfalls) that prevailed during the last 2 years in many districts of the country.
First Capital Research upgraded private sector credit growth for 2017E to 16% in Aug 2017 from 14% amidst a likely increase towards the end of the year. Private sector credit figure saw decelerated to Rs 41 billion in October 2017 prior to pick up by Rs 61.6 billion in November 2017, we believe overall credit is likely to continue to remain under check.
First Capital Research forecast Feb 2018 CCPI headline inflation to be at 5.1%. We believe inflation will be under control over the next 2-3 months while there could be some upward pressure towards 2Q2018.
Sri Lanka’s forex reserves assets decreased by USD 286 million to USD 7.67 billion in January 2018 which was equivalent to about 4.5 months of imports, from Rs 7.96 billion in December 2017.
The CBSL had net purchased USD 191 million from currency markets so far during 2018. First Capital Research View: First Capital Research expects foreign reserves to maintain at USD 7 billion which is equivalent to 4 months import bill value.
Economists said the Fed will still pencil in three hikes for 2018 ( March 2018, June 2018 and December 2018), but moved forward one of those projected moves to March 2018 from June 2018.
Sri Lanka’s rupee also hit a record low of 155.90 per dollar yesterday , on heavy demand for dollars from importers.
Just the other day I came across a Facebook post written by a foreigner (I can’t remember the nationality of the author). He or she wrote something to the tune that Sri Lanka, widely vilified as a failed state even after we had defeated arguably the single most dangerous terrorist organisation in the world, had much to be grateful for: free education, free healthcare, freedom of religion, an integrative society that rehabilitated former terrorist cadres, and the resilience of the people. This coming from a foreigner who probably would have set foot in the country for a short time reminded me, rather cynically I should say, of the many glamourous accounts of the former Soviet Union by first-time idealists who had never visited Russia before.
It’s okay to go overboard sometimes. Okay to say your country is the greatest in the world. Okay to say that there’s much to be grateful for. What’s not okay, though, is turning a blind eye to certain realities. Hours after that well-intentioned foreigner posted on social media, a Sri Lankan posted some of those realities which I felt needed to be made clear; in a nutshell, that the free education we receive suffers from qualitative deficits, that the free healthcare we get has become bureaucratised (need we mention the many strikes that doctors and nurses perpetuate everyday?), that freedom of religion is okay as long as you’re Sinhalese and Buddhist, that integration works for LTTE cadres as long as they flirt with the Establishment (think of Karuna Amman), and that while the people are resilient, their lives are deeply complicated.
Who are the romantics?
Obviously, not everyone agrees. Not everyone would consider what was posted palatable. One week after the free nation in us turned 70, perhaps it would do well to revisit history, to privilege facts over frill, to understand where we are and to keep the debate: this compels from romantics on both sides of the divide. Naturally enough, this provokes a significant question; when it comes to that debate, who are the romantics? The romantic nationalists are easier to identify. They are the idealists who believe not just in a better tomorrow, but a better today. They turn a blind eye to the realities that occupy our lives because they privilege the nation over the individual. Their opponents would suggest that they suffer from apathy, indifference, and a not-so-healthy dose of an inferiority complex, that what they idealise in terms of historical monoliths is miles away from the true status of those monoliths. Even in the arts, this apathy persists. We are wont to inflate the national hero without delving into what turned that hero into who he or she eventually became. We are very often anti-American at heart, regardless of political affiliations, but what we borrow from the United States is their romanticised disregard for history. The cowboy film in America, and the Cinemascope epic, is adapted here into the final battle in Aloko Udapadi, which turns out to be so inflated that we can only suspend our disbelief.
The romantic anti-nationalists are less easy, but still not that hard, to identify. They generally hail from close academic circles, and if they are not wont to rubbishing the nation and all its ills without considering the arguments put forward by their ideological opponents, they go a step further and perpetuate the ultimate myth: that we were better off under the colonialists. These are the same academics who criticise the Buddhist clergy’s involvement with the independence movement and what is felt to be their orientation towards socialist politics, and at the same time praise the status quo authoritarianism of Lee Kuan Yew’s Singapore (H. L. Seneviratne’s The Work of Kings, otherwise an interesting sociological document, fails precisely because it sustains this contradiction throughout). In other words, we had better prospects as a Dominion, never mind that we were never free, because we had it both ways; we would be defended by the Queen’s Army while the locals would be free to pursue their own national interests, in terms of economics.
What they privilege
The latter opinion is, even today, widely disseminated, though only by a diminishing demographic; the generation of the fifties and the sixties, educated in the Ivor Jennings-styled University system, largely in English, and comprising, for the most, those academics pointed out above. They are a rare breed, but what they lack in numbers they make up for through academic and ideological unity. To put it in perspective, what they privilege – economics – is so important to them that everything else – culture, identity, national freedom – dissolves away and can be thrown to the dust.
If we empathise with the first of these two groups on the basis of their affiliation with the ideal of nationhood and sovereignty, then it goes without saying that there’s nothing wrong in empathising with the second of those groups on the basis of their rational, albeit flawed, conception of economics and technocracy. The romantic nationalists have been put down, in print, by the young and the old, everywhere, since time immemorial. Their critics snigger, and not without reason, when they hear Sekara’s Me Sinhala Apage Ratai and in particular the following words: Mulu lova eya ratata yatayi. There’s nothing wrong in healthy criticism of this sort, the way I see it, because going overboard with nationalism risks a serious long-term problem.
Which is this; in any country, trying to shackle itself from colonialism, the most immediate nationalists, who emerged after the dawn of independence, hailed from a rather elitist English-oriented (if not bilingual) background that gave them access to the University and the Civil Service. We see this in other postcolonial societies too – Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt, Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana, Jomo Kenyatta in Kenya – and we see in the best of them an ability to transform their elitist backgrounds to a populist base on which complete independence was sought. Neither Nasser nor Nkrumah nor Kenyatta, on that count, were content in perpetuating the elitism that they had imbibed in their early years; they succeeded in making their backgrounds the buffer on which they based their populist, nationalist calls for freedom and sovereignty.
The romantic nationalists have been put down, in print, by the young and the old, everywhere, since time immemorial. Their critics snigger, and not without reason, when they hear Sekara’s Me Sinhala Apage Ratai and in particular the following words: Mulu lova eya ratata yatayi
But those who followed these elites-turned-nationalists, born from the structures of empowerment which those elites opened (in Sri Lanka, free education; in Egypt, the concept of Pan-Arabism), were somewhat doomed because they repudiated any need to imbibe the modernity their forefathers had. In other words, especially in societies run on religious lines, the spiritual was raised to a position higher than the material, which proved to be the undoing of both in later decades. The ultimatum here is that these societies were contorted by their own independence struggles and movements.
As a final point though, if these points are adequate for us to criticise the romantic nationalist, it’s only fair to consider that the base on which criticism of over-the-top nationalism is sustained – the existence of elites – is also the base on which we can constructively assess the romantic anti-nationalist. Here too, the argument is both simple and complex; that Dominion status, while superficially emboldening us through the fact that our defences and foreign affairs would be handled by a foreign entity, would not embolden us to look after our own economic interests, because those in charge of handling those interests, before and after independence, were fatally tied to the interests of the colonialist: in other words, the colonial elite, the colonial bourgeoisie. UDAKDEV1@GMAIL.COM
Today (15th) issuing a statement in Colombo chairperson of the Rajapksa led Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) G.L .Peiris said that ” The [present] Government never appointed a Commission to look into the far more important issue of the Aluthgama incident, because all the perpetrators are now in the Yahapalana Government. The Government should immediately establish a Commission of Inquiry into the Aluthgama incident, the sudden flare-up of extremist activity in 2017 and the Gintota incident. In the meantime, the law should be implemented strictly on such incidents in the future,”
Aluthgama anti Muslim riots took place on 15th and 16th June 2014. Rajapaksa wass then in power and this what his government told UNHRC just five days after the riots:
“In response to references made by Germany, Norway and Canada, Sri Lanka wishes to place on record the sequence of events that led to the incidents of communal violence in Aluthgama and Beruwala in southern Sri Lanka on 15th and 16th June, and the action taken by the Government.
On 12th June, a Buddhist monk was assaulted by three Muslim youth, following a dispute. The three suspects were produced before the Magistrate and remanded, while the monk who made a statement to the Police, was admitted to hospital.
On 15th June, the Buddhist monk was proceeding to the temple accompanied by some other monks and lay persons, when stones were thrown at the group as they were passing the Mosque in Dharga Town.
This incident led to the violence, which spread to Beruwala by 16th June. Police was compelled to use tear gas and impose curfew to bring the situation under control.”
Now same Rajapaksa wants to appoint a commission to look in to the riots.
The reason is clear: He needs to dupe Muslim community to get their votes in coming elections.
CYBERVIEWS-02/13/2018
On the 8th of February 2018, the induction ceremony of Mr. Jagath Perera as the 24th President of Chartered Accountants Sri Lanka (ICASL) was held at the Hilton Grand Ballroom. As a fellow member of the Institute, I decided to attend the event, partly because I knew him personally arising out of our professional interactions over the years.
This is an important event for the Institute, because it serves as an occasion for the incoming President to be introduced to the general membership, key stakeholders from the public sector and representatives of other professional accounting bodies. It is also an opportunity to bid farewell to the outgoing President. A live webcast of the event had also been arranged, especially for those residing outside the country. Over a thousand Chartered Accountants attended the event as a gesture of professional solidarity and also to congratulate and wish the new President well as he takes on the onerous responsibility of guiding and giving direction to an institution that would be celebrating its 60th anniversary next year.
My initial disconcert arose when the invitation mentioned that the Prime Minister would be the chief guest. (My personal view was that with the election just two days away and a cooling period in force under the instructions of the Elections Commissioner, it was preferable that he had not been invited). Yet, despite my misgivings I did not attach any ulterior motive to the decision. I put it down to the new President wanting to go one better than his predecessor, in getting the 2nd highest in the land to be the chief guest at his induction!
Getting back to the ceremony, the PM who arrived a bit late, was led in by a bevy of dancers, to the base of the dais. The compere then announced that these dancers were going to form themselves into a human structure for the lighting of the lamp. She then read out the names of those invited to light the lamp and lo and behold, to the incredulity of many in the audience, Ravi Karunanayake, the former Finance Minister was among the names called. Many wishfully thought that he had not come as he was not visible in the dimly lit hall, but then we saw him as he turned rather sheepishly towards the audience. My initial reaction was one of disgust and outrage. I even heard a lady behind me contemptuously exclaiming “shik”. I did not wish to remain there even a second more and left the hall and went back home feeling shamed and degraded by my Institute whose code of ethics and professionalism I have always endeavoured to abide by.
In my opinion the decision to invite Ravi Karunanayake and give him pride of place at this important event, constituted a false start for the induction of the 24th President of ICASL. This opinion is derived from what the ICASL stands for, its role in society and the role of its Associate and Fellow members. Established in 1959 by an Act of Parliament, ICASL is the only accredited authority that formulates Accounting and Auditing Standards in Sri Lanka. In its website it boasts of a membership of nearly 6000 professionals trained to provide “financial knowledge and guidance based on the highest professional, technical and ethical standards..” Its vision is “to demonstrate and be known for exemplifying the highest standards in business and society”. That it is one of the largest tertiary education providers outside the university system with a student base of over 44,000 is reflective that its mission “to be the most sought after qualification for business leaders” is being realized.
Therefore it is clear that this responsibility of training finance professionals, and its standard setting and certification role, vested with and played by ICASL, enhances the accountability of public, corporate, and social institutions across the country. Therefore it is imperative for ICASL and its members to be beyond reproach. In its Annual Report of 2013, the President and the council at the time seem to have understood this perfectly when it is emphasized on page 25 of the report under the section Society and Environment, that “Maintaining reputational stability lies at the core of our profession.”
Seen in this light how does one vindicate the decision to invite Ranil Wickremesinghe and Ravi Karunanayake to this event? What kind of message does it convey and what kind of perceptions does it create? The PCoI report that was released just a week or two earlier, had recommended that necessary action be taken against Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake under Bribery and Corruption Act alluding to the allegation against him regarding the payment of rent for the super luxury penthouse apartment belonging to the Aloysius Family and their Walt and Rowe Company. It also recommended that further legal action should be taken against Mr. Karunanayake under the penal code for giving false evidence at the Commission.
Is this the message the ICASL and its President wants to give its membership, its student body and the public at large? Isn’t it a disrespect to the findings of a Presidential commission. The perception that follows from this message is that the ICASL is seeking to launder a soiled politician, using as detergent the credibility of the Institution. Yet the degree of dirtiness was so great that it has ended up contaminating not only to the Institution but also its members, hence my anger and outrage.
Now this also brings me to the role of the PM in this. It was only a week before that the UNP issued a statement, signed by its Chairman recommending that Ravi Karunanayake step down as Deputy Leader until these allegations had been investigated and resolved. In that backdrop, that the leader of the party should be seen collaboratively lighting a lamp at the induction of a President of ICASL, could be perceived not as a coincidence, but as a subtle act of reputation laundering. That this should have been orchestrated before the election makes it even more suspect.
This not the first time that the ICASL has been hijacked by vested political interests. A previous President of the Institute who became a powerful figure in the previous government, used the Institute as a platform for similar laundering and propaganda purposes. It became customary for a member of the ruling family of the time to be invited to almost all events of the Institute. It was indeed a sad period where the ICASL lost a great deal of credibility.
The President who came in next, Mr. Arjuna Herath, had the challenging job of restoring the integrity of the ICASL and help it take its rightful place as a leading professional institution in the country. He did an excellent job and I remember when the current immediate Past President, Mr. Lasantha Wickremesinghe was inducted, I personally went upto Arjuna (the outgoing President) and thanked him. It was commendable to note that his successor, Lasantha, maintained those good traditions and during his two year tenure, tried hard to protect the ICASL from vested political interests.
While it is clear that this false start doesn’t augur well for the future direction of ICASL, I would like to appeal to the new President and Council to bring in policy changes to the Institute that would prevent the Institute from being used for political purposes.
I wish right thinking members in our profession will bring the necessary pressure to achieve this. I am sure most of you are going to receive this article in the mail, and therefore if you are in agreement with what I have said (especially those who were present at the event) please register your displeasure in some form and make representations for change.
That the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) swept the local councils polls on February 10th should not come as surprise to anyone who closely watched the political developments in the country after the demise of the Rajapaksa regime in 2015. The yahapalanaya regime of MS-RW was given the mandate by the people to, clean up corruption, speed up the process of reconciliation with the minorities, control the escalating cost of living, reduce national debt, restore rule of law, and bring before justice the corruptors in the former regime.None of these was accomplished but instead the situation worsened, and hence, the peoples’ disgust with the rulers. They demonstrated their anger peacefully at the polls by voting massively against the so-called yahapalanaya facade. Therefore, the landslide victory of SLPP was more a vote against the MS-RW mismarriage rather than an endorsement of MR led opposition.
something to the tune that Sri Lanka, widely vilified as a failed state even after we had defeated arguably the single most dangerous terrorist organisation in the world, had much to be grateful for: free education, free healthcare, freedom of religion, an integrative society that rehabilitated former terrorist cadres, and the resilience of the people. This coming from a foreigner who probably would have set foot in the country for a short time reminded me, rather cynically I should say, of the many glamourous accounts of the former Soviet Union by first-time idealists who had never visited Russia before. 
